LANSING — The Michigan Film Office announced today that two feature film projects – Believe and Grain – have been approved for tax incentives from the state. Both projects will begin filming this month.
“While these two projects tell very different stories, they both are tapping into the talented crew and iconic locations Michigan has to offer — from Detroit to the shores of Lake Michigan,” said Margaret O’Riley, director of the Michigan Film Office.
Believe will film on location in Manistee, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon as well as at 10 West Studios in Manistee. The film is being directed by Michigan filmmaker Harold Cronk and was awarded an incentive of $657,142 on $2. 3 million of projected in-state expenditures. The project is expected to hire more than 80 Michigan workers.
The faith-based film tells the story of a group of seemingly unrelated individuals whose lives collide in a series of events following one man’s decision to live his life.
“After reviewing a variety of filming locations, it’s the beauty and majesty of West Michigan’s diverse communities that really captured our imaginations,” Cronk said. “We couldn’t envision the project being made anywhere else.”
Grain will film in the city of Detroit at various emblematic and historic locations. It was awarded an incentive of $238,588 on more than $700,000 of projected in-state expenditures and is expected to hire nearly 80 Michigan workers.
The film is set in an indefinite near future, where the existence of sustainable life is threatened. Together, a genetics expert and a general chaos scientist join forces in the Dead Lands to find fresh seeds, changing everything they thought they knew in the process.
“We are proud and happy to be awarded a Michigan film incentive,” said Johannes Rexin, who is producing the project alongside Semih Kaplanoglu and Nadir Öperli. “Grain is a pure arthouse project designed as an international co-production with the aim of opening the film for a broader audience. We will shoot in English because we want to produce Grain as a unique film with universal texture and we are thankful to be welcomed in Pure Michigan and Detroit with its great tradition and history.”
